§ Mr. Stottasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to adjust the boundaries of the English economic planning regions to bring them into line with the revised local government boundaries from 1st April 1974.
§ Mr. CroslandYes. The changes to the boundaries of economic planning regions will be the minimum necessary to ensure close working between my Department's regional offices and the new local authorities and to define the areas of interest of the present economic planning councils. They have no bearing on the Government's consideration of the Kilbrandon Report. The revised economic planning regions in England are thus as follows:
NEW ECONOMIC PLANNING REGIONS IN ENGLAND WITH EFFECT FROM 1ST APRIL 1974
Northern: Cleveland, Cumbria. Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear.Yorkshire and Humberside: Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.East Midlands: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.East Anglia: Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.South East: Greater London, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.South West: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.West Midlands: Hereford and Worcester, Salop, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands.North West: Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.